FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Acquired by Zimmer Partners LP

Zimmer Partners LP increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,918,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,232,040 shares during the period. FirstEnergy makes up about 3.4% of Zimmer Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Zimmer Partners LP’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $195,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FE. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho set a $43.00 price target on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of FE opened at $42.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 94.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $516,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,299,514.57. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Profile

FirstEnergy Corp., through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, and distributes electricity in the United States. It operates through Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments. The company owns and operates coal-fired, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, and solar power generating facilities.